US Midterm Elections 2018: US votes on Donald Trump’s future

Trump's big battle

The West Australian

VideoMillions of Americans are hitting the polls for the country's midterm elections

The energy and outrage of the Democrat campaign has been facing off against the brute strength of President Donald Trump’s GOP as voters across America decided who should control the two US chambers of goverment.

The first round of mainland state polls have officially closed, in the eastern half of Kentucky and most of Indiana. The remaining parts of Kentucky and Indiana, Georgia, most of Florida, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia will close shortly.

But the first result of the US midterm elections is in: The island of Guam has a new female governor, Democrat Lou Leon Guerrero.

Camera IconPresident Trump talks to members of the media at the White House. Credit: Washington Post \ Bloomberg

Guerrero polled 18,081 votes, giving her 50.7 per cent of the balance of power. The threshold needed for poll victory in the US is 50 per cent - plus one. Republican Ray Tenorio’s team pulled 9419 votes.

President Trump had a calm start to the day. His only contribution as voters turned out across the US for the midterm vote was to retweet polling locations and mild endorsements of a few key candidates. Then his restraint buckled.

The bellwether state of Florida -- which is regarded as a ’must win’ for any presidential campaign -- is looking shaky for its Republican Governor.

It’s a retweet unlikely to have any impact on US voters at this late stage. They have headed to the polls en masse for the pivotal midterm election, which is seen as a referendum on the first two years of Trump’s volatile presidency.

All eyes are on the several dozen razor-thin races that will decide if Republicans retain control of the House of Representatives and Senate or if one or both chambers flip Democratic.

Camera IconThe wait time to vote at the Pittman Park precinct in Atlanta was reported to be three hours. ) Credit: McClatchy Tribune

The southern US state of Georgia has had unusually large numbers of problems with voting machines and long lines, firing concerns by Democrats that Republican state office holders are subtly trying to suppress black votes.

The shortage of working machines in major counties of Georgia caused people to wait hours in line.

The governor race is highly contested, between Brian Kemp, who is supported by President Donald Trump, and Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who has campaigned with Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.

She hopes to become the first black woman to hold the office, in a state seen as part of the conservative Deep South.

Kemp is the secretary of the state of Georgia, meaning he runs the elections. Critics have noted the conflict of interest.

He has refused to recuse himself from the electoral role.

The history of the Deep South, laws acted for nearly 100 years after the end of slavery to disenfranchise blacks, cast a heavy shadow over the events.

Meanwhile, in North Dakota, Native Americans are also struggling to vote. Indian tribal advocates have for months warned that changes to local laws mean voters are now required to have a physical address, but most people living on reservations use post office boxes.

The US Constitution vested a great deal of power in the Congress. One of its most significant powers is oversight of the White House and the federal bureaucracy.

Camera IconVoters are heading to the polls outside a school on Tuesday to cast ballots in the pivotal 2018 midterm elections. Credit: McClatchy Tribune

Congress, through their roughly 20 standing committees, can open investigations, hold public or private hearings, and subpoena people or documents when exercising their oversight role.

With Republicans controlling both houses, these oversight powers have largely gone unused over the past two years.

Should Democrats win control of the House, they will ’win the gavels’ of the standing committees and thus gain control of all of Congress’s oversight powers. It is expected that they will open up investigations into dozens of potential scandals that have swirled around the Trump administration.